Alright guys. TIFU by driving my beloved 1990 Accord with no oil, for a long way (10-15 miles?), and I only found out because I heard it knocking LOUD.

Here's the deal... I have a 1990 Accord DX, 168K miles. I do regular oil changes and maintenance (GTX High Mileage, KN filters, NGK, etc.) I drive about 120 miles/day. Well this afternoon I was headed home on the highway and heard a slight knocking sound. Thought it was the road or even a tire problem, but noticed it only knocked when I accelerated. Coasting was normal sounds. I pulled over as soon as I could (which was about 10 miles, narrow highway) and the knocking was progressively louder.

Once I got to the station, I let her sit a few minutes and checked the fluids. Oil barely wet the tip of the stick. Don't burn oil and have no idea how it got so low, I check every couple weeks and have no spotting, but too late anyway. So I put about 3 quarts in and start her up... Went about 15 miles without sound, highway speeds. After that, I heard knocking again... Faint, but I could tell they were getting worse. I pulled over and had her towed home. Once home, started up, hit the throttle a while, sounds just like normal.

So, gut is telling me a new engine is in my future, but hoping you guys with the experience might offer some hope?

EDIT: BTW, I HAVE done some deeper maintenance on it in the past few weeks... Replaced all the valve cover seals including the ones under the rocker arm. Fresh seals, new plugs/wires, gapped properly, all NGK. Was over 1000 miles ago though.

 

its possible its leaking and you arent noticing it, could also be burning it and you may not notice. MY accord was burning almost a quart every 100 miles and you would never know unless at high rpm. maybe the oil pump was failing and you were having intermittent oil pressure. If you use non synthetic the oil will be thick when cold and provide more oiling at startup so you may not notice the knock. The engine can easily be rebuilt and is not totally junk if your heart desires to keep the car

 

So you're saying there is no chance it could salvageable without a major repair?

 

Barely wet the stick and it needed 3 quarts? Two maybe, but three?
Only way to know what you may be in store for is to remove the filter, cut it open and see what awesomeness pours out.
Install a new oil filter, remove the oil pressure sensor, and install an oil pressure test gauge.
Start up the engine and monitor oil pressure from cold to hot, and verify it is within specification.

Oil pressure sensor is pretty useless, IIRC oil light will come on below 6lbs of pressure.

 

If the oil was registering on the stick at all I wouldn't think it would cause bearing failure, especially if the oil pressure light didn't come on.

 

That's what I was thinking, and the light never even flickered.

 

like mike says, the oil light is a joke. It'll come on once you've lost enough pressure to destroy bearings. I wouldn't count on it to be the end all save all. When us boosted and built guys watch the oil gauge we run, if its flickering or being sporadic then **** has already hit the fan. Unfortunately for a stock vehicle the sensor is literally a dumby light and wont do you much good. But like he said also if you drain the oil watch for the metal flakes in the oil and check out your oil pressure with some new oil. If you're hearing knocking then you already have enough gap between the rod bearings and crank to make an audible noise

 

So assuming I need new bearings, what exactly am I looking at? Is that a part that can be replaced easily? Do I need a new engine?

 

It's a pretty involved job, def not easily done, will require removing at least the oil pan, probably the head. It's an involved enough job that people who do it typically also replace many of the gaskets and the rings, I believe I've seen it done with the engine still in the car on a civic, but they pulled the head and everything from inside the bottom of the engine. I have found honda guys who told me they'd do rings/bearings for $350 on a civic, with me supplying the parts, that was west virginia though, money is worth more there

 

if you put in a gauge, remember you need the adapter to go from BSPT threads, to NPT, which is what most gauge kits use, trying to screw the fitting directly into the block will damage the threads. Don't believe people who say they have done it, didn't damage anything etc, there is a one thread per inch difference between the two, thats a lot when you are talking about threads

 

Quick update guys...

A couple days after that last post, I changed the oil and checked for metal debris by filtering out the drainage. Nothing. Gutted the filter and found very very small traces of metal flakes, meaning, I had to look very very hard and only spotted a few when they reflected light.

It's been mostly just sitting for the time being, but I do take her out to get the fluids moving. I still don't understand... She drives fine, with no problems, no knocks, no noises for about 20, 25 miles, then that's when I start to hear it.

Another honorable mention... Before all this drama, she made the exact same knocking sound from the same direction but only when I turned from a stop. Never while driving, and never had low oil before then. I ignored it because I assumed it was a drive axle needing replacing, but... Coincidence, or remote chance it could be something else?

 

have you installed a gauge? you need a good gauge you can keep an eye on, if it's not the engine, it could be something as simple as a bad cv joint, or even something like a differential bearing going out, the fact that it did it before only when you turned, makes me think CV joint, they will also make a knocking noise when they are failing,

 

Sounds like bearings to me. Same symptoms as on my 02 taurus that threw a rod. See what the oil pressure is. Try adding oil thickener and see what it does.

 

When you run without oil you will ruin your engine in no short time.

Dont let your car overheat and never let your oil level get below the min line.

Anything can be fixed for little cost if you only follow those 2 simple golden rules.

 

Thank you, Captain Obvious. I never would have guessed.

Not trying to be a d***, but I checked the oil on Friday, let it sit over the weekend and that Tuesday it was knocking. There were no drips, leaks, or odors. Short of checking the damn thing everyday, I don't see what I could've done to prevent it.

 

Apparently it wasnt obvious though.

Yes you should have, since you had major oil leaks.

 

have you even verified the ACTUAL oil pressure? you don't even know for sure it's the engine yet normally they don't "run fine" with a major knock

 

is this an auto? a cracked flex plate or converter issue can sound just like an engine knocking, and usually only show up after everything gets warm don't assume your engine is bad, especially since it takes so long to hear the knock

 

While I agree with the concept, practically speaking I had no reason to. Twenty years of driving the car and the only thing that leaked was coolant when the crosspipe seal went out.

If you check the oil every single day on your vehicle when there are no obvious problems, kudos to you. When no problems or signs of problems are present, once a week is enough for me.

 

Thanks for the advice Lostforawhile. I don't have an oil pressure gauge or anything like that. Was thinking of taking it to the dealer and have them diagnose it at least.

I drove it today for about 3 miles just to keep the fluids moving, and noticed an oil burning smell and the CV knocking was LOUD on the left turn, more than usual. I didn't hear the knocking I heard on the highway at all. Brought her up to 70 MPH and no knocking either.